The present invention generally relates to hair clips and more particularly to hair clips having pivotable jaws for gripping hair.
One type of prior art clips which use pivotable jaws are generally known as butterfly clips. These clips comprise two jaw members having tines and being joined along a pivot axis. A spring arrangement is provided at the pivot axis to resiliently urge the tines of the jaws to a closed position to grip the hair. To enable the tines to be disengaged and the jaws opened, the jaws are provided with lever members extending therefrom at a position away from the tines. This gives the clip the classic xe2x80x98butterflyxe2x80x99 appearance and hence its common name. When the clips are worn the primary visible parts are the lever members or xe2x80x98wingsxe2x80x99 and the joining pivot and spring mechanism. The problem is that although these clips are easy to use single handed, the spring and pivot mechanism is not very aesthetically appealing. The arrangement disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,862,815 addresses this problem by providing a cover over the spring mechanism. This cover is however required to flex or fold as the clip is opened and the wings close together. Thus the cover mechanism is complex to build and is fragile and thus liable to failure in use, especially as the clip ages.
Another type of clip which provides pivotable jaws is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,142,159. This clip comprises a barrette made of a single flat strip of resilient material. Ends of the flat strip form tines that join when in the closed position. In one example the clip can be opened by pulling the two ends apart. This operation requires the use of two hands and is thus more complex than that required for opening butterfly clips. In another example in U.S. Pat. No. 6,142,159 handle portions are provided and the strip flexes in a central region. While this enables single handed operation, it requires the central region to be flexible. This limits the decorative ability of the central region.
It is thus an object of the present invention to provide an improved hair clip that overcomes the deficiencies in the prior art.
One aspect of the present invention provides jaw arrangements having tines, and a body arrangement to which the jaw arrangements are pivotably and resiliently mounted so as to urge the jaw arrangements to a closed position where said tines meet. A jaw opening arrangement is provided to allow the jaw arrangement to be opened single handed. The jaw arrangements are mounted on the body arrangement at pivot positions which define laterally spaced pivot axes.
By laterally spacing the pivot axes it is possible to use a body which can be decorated or made less visible and can also act to hide the pivot mechanisms if necessary, thereby improving the aesthetic appearance of the clip in use.
The present invention includes any body arrangement such as a single body part or multiple body parts acting to hold the effective pivot points of the jaw arrangements spaces laterally. Also the jaw arrangements can comprise any arrangement of single or multiple jaw parts. Where multiple jaw parts are provided, the jaw parts can be pivotable connected together to form a multiply pivoted jaw arrangement. Pivots in such an arrangement will lie substantially parallel. The jaw opening arrangement can comprise any suitable part or collection of parts to enable the jaw arrangements to be urged pivotably to an open position against the resilient force of the resilient connection between the jaw arrangements and the body arrangement.
In one embodiment of the present invention, the body arrangement has an outer face and the pivot mechanisms are arranged on said body arrangement away from the outer face. Thus the pivot mechanisms are hidden in the hair when worn.
In an embodiment of the present invention, the opening arrangement comprises handle portions extending from said jaw arrangements at positions away from the tines and acting as lever members to lever the jaw arrangements open about the pivots.
In an alternative embodiment, the opening arrangement comprises an engagement member arranged within the jaws arrangements and operable in a direction of the pivot axes to engage the jaw arrangements to urge them open. In this embodiment the jaw engagement portion can have angled engagement surfaces for engagement with the jaw arrangements to urge them open. Also the jaw engagement portion can be carried by the body arrangement. For example the jaw engagement portion can be slidably attached to said body portion to allow said jaw engagement portion to slide relative to said body portion to engage said jaw portions.
In another embodiment of the present invention, resilient portions are arranged between the body arrangement and the jaw arrangement to provide the resilient connection between the body arrangement and the jaw arrangement. In this embodiment the jaw portions can be mounted to the body arrangement via pivot pins, and the resilient portions can comprise spring members engaging the body arrangement and the jaw arrangements. In an alternative embodiment of the present invention, the jaw portions are formed from the same piece of material as said body portion and at pivot points the material is thinned in section to enable the jaw portions to pivot relative to the body portion, and a resilient member is provided to urge the jaw arrangements to the closed position. In another alternative embodiment of the present invention the resilient portions comprise resilient material connecting the jaw arrangements and the body arrangement.
In another embodiment of the present invention, the body arrangement comprises a base portion to which the jaw arrangements are connected, and at least one decorative cover portion. In this embodiment at least one said decorative cover portion can be removable in use to enable different cover portions to be connected to the base portion.
In another embodiment the body is formed of thin section edge regions defining a central aperture through the body between the pivot axes. Thus in this embodiment the hair of the wearer can be seen through the body thus reducing the visibility of the clip.
In one embodiment of the present invention, the jaw portions are arcuate in section to define a volume between the body arrangement and the jaw arrangements into which hair can be clasped in use.
In one embodiment of the present invention each jaw arrangement comprises a plurality of hingedly and resiliently coupled jaw sections, each hinged coupling lying along an axis parallel to the laterally spaced axes.